Monthly Archives: January 2017

It's almost been two years since the first DICE Battlefront game, and now another one is on the horizon.

The first DICE-EA Battlefront tile may not have been accepted well by the community, but DICE has had chance to learn from their mistakes and they're hoping Battlefront 2 will be appreciated by FPS and Star Wars fans alike.

First things first, the new Battlefront 2 game is slated for a Holiday 2017 release, which means it'll most likely arrive around the same time of the year the first Battlefront title did in 2015. DICE will also be getting help this time round from another studio. The studio which has been hired to help out is none other than Criterion, the same guys behind the explosive Burnout video game series.

Another newly formed development team named Motive Studios will also be helping out. So far we're not sure how much of a part either of the other two developers will play in the development process, but DICE will be the main team, with Criterion and Motive offering additional support.

Battlefront 2 will feature a number of changes when compared to the original. Firstly, Battlefront 2 will have a single player campaign, which is an area that the original received a lot of complaints for. Battlefront 2 will also feature gameplay from all Star Wars eras, so this could include the original trilogy, episode 1, 2, 3 and all of the newer movies.

There are a number of different PS4 controllers currently available, including controllers with aesthetic changes and gamepads with physical improvements.

In this article we have listed some of the most wanted PS4 controllers available on the market.

20th Anniversary Edition

Both rare and a homage to days past, the 20th anniversary edition features the iconic gray colors seen on the original PlayStation One controllers twenty years ago. Getting hold of a 20th anniversary edition DualShock 4 controller is hard today, and that only makes it even more valuable.

Gray Blue

The Gray Blue DualShock 4 controller was launched alongside the Limited Edition Uncharted 4 PlayStation 4 bundle - it's not as limited as the 20th anniversary edition, but it's a nice change from the standard colors.

Call of Duty Black Ops 3 Edition

This is one of the more sought after PS4 controllers currently available, mostly due to it's unique orange and metallic gray color scheme.

DualShock 4 Standard Color Range

As well as the limited edition pads above, Sony has released a number of unlimited DualShock 4 variants, all with different colors. The standard colors include Maga Red, Glacier White, Urban Camouflage and Blue.

Razer Raiju PS4 Pro

Razer and Sony have teamed up to offer a PS4 Elite controller - this gamepad has a similar price tag to the Xbox One Elite, and it comes with a fairly similar offering. The Razer Raiju is bulkier than your standard DualShock 4.

PS4 Custom Controllers

The Raiju doesn't have as many customization options as the Xbox One Elite, so if you're looking out for something with more of a competitive advantage for casual play, esports, or anything in between, you may prefer something that takes things to another level.

However, neither Razer, Microsoft, Sony or any other major player in the hardware space can give you the customization options we have to offer.

PS4 Pro Controller: The PS4 Elite Controller You Have Been Looking For

We aren't going to pretend that we aren't tooting our own horn, but we've been in this business for close to 10 years and the features we offer in addition to the quality of our controllers are completely unmatched.

Customers email us every day telling us how great our PS4 Pro Controller is and how it's exactly what they've been looking for. While we do offer Pro Controllers for Xbox One and we do offer an Xbox One Elite Send In Service for our Microsoft fan customers, we believe it's truly important that our Sony customers get an equally awesome controller. That's where our Pro Controllers come in.

Getting your hands on any available Xbox One Elite controllers has proven tricky. Availability has always been an issue, forcing those interested into purchasing specific bundles and console packages.

In this article we've shared some of the different ways Xbox One owners can get their hands on an Xbox Elite Controller.

Through Xbox.com

The easiest way to get an Elite Controller is from the Xbox.com website - if they have any in stock. On the shop on the xbox.com website, standalone controllers can be found for $149.99. Other details about what the controllers can do, and how they can benefit competitive play and esports can also be found here.

Xbox One Elite Bundle

If you are in the market for a new Xbox One, the Xbox One Elite bundle may appeal to you. Not only is it another route to go for a custom Xbox One controller, but it ends up being an incredibly valuable deal as well. For example, the Microsoft store currently lists the 1TB variant of the bundle for just $229 - this bundle includes the 1TB Xbox One console and an Xbox Elite wireless controller.

Alternative Options

If you can't find the Xbox One Elite controller on the official Xbox and Microsoft websites, your next best bet is to visit places like Amazon, GameStop or eBay. Any other local retailers may also have some in stock.

Alternatively, you could skip getting an Xbox One Elite controller completely and instead opt for custom Xbox One controller with additional features and personalization options.

Limited Xbox One Elite ControllersÂ

Microsoft themselves have offered a few Xbox One Elite Controller Bundles, but for the most part they lack variety. The Gears of War Elite Controller was available for a limited time, but is now only available for $300+ dollars from resellers.

Customize a Brand New Xbox One Elite Controller

Thankfully we have your back. We understand that owning a one-of-a-kind controller with all of the special features you would like is extremely important. While we do offer our own Pro Controllers with features that we believe our superior to the standard Microsoft Xbox One Elite Controller model, we think the option for an Evil Pro Controller or an Evil Customized Elite Controller should be your decision to make, not ours.

If you already have an Elite Controller, but would like it modified with our Master Mod or with a custom shell, our Xbox One Elite Controller Send In Service is available. Starting at $109.99 we add our Master Mod to your controller. The most elegant aspect of our service is that it leaves your 2nd profile completely unmodded. Profile 1 features all of the mods you love, rapid fire, drop shot, fast reload, etc. However, if you want to play a game in which our mods are not available, you can quickly disable all features by sliding the controller to Profile 2.

Looking for information on Call of Duty esports? This is where it all starts.

We haven't heard much in the way of Call of Duty esports news so far this year. Fortunately, an announcement has now been made for the beginning of the CWL Global Pro League in 2017. It has recently been confirmed that stage 1 of the pro league will start on April 20.

The CWL Global Pro League is a weekly LAN league for Call of Duty that will see teams from all over the world battle it out in their local arenas. Just before stage 1, an open event will take place on March 17 until March 19. This will be the CWL Dallas Open and will be the most important event this year for teams to earn the chance to gain points to qualify for the GPL.

"The CWL Dallas Open is the final event where teams and their rosters can earn CWL Pro Points for a chance to qualify to Stage 1 of the CWL Global Pro League, beginning April 20."

"The CWL Global Pro League, taking place live at the MLG Arena in Columbus, Ohio, will include 16 teams worldwide over two stages of the competition, each with a hefty prize pool."

More open events will take place throughout the year and they'll all lead up to the GPL, which will be the biggest opportunity for teams to gain points for one of the limited 16 slots available in the final tournament.

The upcoming event is Final Round 20 and it will be the first event of this year to be included in Capcom Pro Tour rankings. Final Round has been a part of the Capcom Pro Tour in the past, and Fight Round 20 will be the third year running. It's not yet been confirmed whether Final Round 20 will be a Ranking or a Premier event, but some other details have been confirmed.

After last year's miscommunication from Fight Round 20, the bracket system will work. For example, last year Fight Round held a Premier event for the 2016 Capcom Pro Tour, but because of the lack of access to online brackets, it was very hard for players to figure out exactly who had made it out of the original stages and into the Top 128.

This year, the pools will be played out over two days instead of one, and the Smash.gg platform will be used to track matches and provide accessible online brackets for anybody to view.

So far we know that Final Round 20 will take place on March 10 and will continue until March 12. The event will be held in Atlanta, Georgia. More details about location and the chosen venue will be released nearer to the event start date.

After the success of the Capcom Pro Tour in 2016, we cannot wait to see how things will pan out this year. We think 2017 could be a very big one for Street Fighter.

BeyondTheSummit has released the key dates and details for the upcoming Smash Summit 4.

It has now been confirmed that the event will take place from March 2 and will end on March 5. To begin with, the prize pool is sitting at $15,000, but it will grow depending on how many fans attend the events.

Even with a $15,000 base prize pool, this will be an important event to take the win, and it could perhaps be the event that could be open to absolutely anybody.

Whilst both Hungrybox and Armada are still performing incredibly, Hungrybox's recent broken finger has put some doubt on his upcoming performance. Armada is still looking like a strong contender, but his most recent Smash Summit win was at Smash Summit 3 doubles, at which point he had help from the formidable Mew2King. Mang0 has also been in great form this year, even if he hasn't managed to hit as many first place wins as Hungrybox and Armada.

In total, there will be sixteen players to attend the Smash Summit 4 event. So far, 10 players have been invited, and six more will be decided by fan votes.

All of the juicy details for the first Battlefield 1 DLC expansion to actually cost any money have now been revealed.

The first DLC for Battlefield 1 is called They Shall Not Pass, and it will include new maps, new weapons, new items, a new game mode and some other extra features.

Firstly, let us share what we know about the maps. The new They Shall Not Pass DLC will have a total of four new multiplayer maps. The four maps are named, Fort Vaux, Rupture, Soissons and Verdun Heights.

With these four maps combined, players will have a nice mixture of claustrophobic underground tunnels, iconic trench and bunker warfare, open farmland and torched rubble.

Frontlines is the included game mode in They Shall Not Pass. Frontlines has a mix of gameplay from Conquest and Rush. "Both teams fight for one flag at a time and when this objective is captured the action moves on to the next. Capture the enemy's HQ control point and the game turns into a Rush-style section where telegraph posts need to be attacked or defended."

The new DLC will also introduce the gigantic Char 2C tank, alongside the St. Chamond tank, a new Trench Raider elite task and the siege Howitzer field gun. The Trench Raider is a melee-heavy class that's going to play a key role in the trenches. With access to a raider club and a variety of grenades, it'll certainly bring a big impact to any well-defended trench.

Thanks to the EA Access program on both the Xbox One and the Origin store on the PC, EA Access subscribers will be able to play Mass Effect Andromeda a week before launch.

It's not been confirmed yet, but it's likely that all, or if not, the majority of the title will be available during this early EA Access period. Similar to different EA Access promotions in the past, this early play time will be restricted to just 10 hours of gameplay. Players can close down their game and open it at any point to ensure they get the most out of those 10 hours.

Once the 10 hours are up, players will be locked out of playing, but they will be able to continue their progress on the full game a week later.

To make the deal sweeter, this promotion will apply to those that have not yet pre-ordered the game. This means that players with EA Access will be able to get a taste of the Mass Effect Andromeda experience before purchasing it. Once again, players who go through this route will be able to continue their progress after launch day if they choose to purchase the game.

Unfortunately, the EA Access program is not currently available for the PS4 version of Mass Effect Andromeda - PlayStation owners will need to wait the extra week to play the full version, and it's unlikely that a trial version will be available.

If you're a fan of the Tekken fighting game series then you'll know that it's been a long wait for the proper release of Tekken 7. Since Tekken 6 we've had new Street Fighter Titles, a new Mortal Kombat game and even a new Killer Instinct exclusive for the Xbox One.

Thankfully, we can finally confirm that Tekken 7 will be making it's way to consoles soon across the globe. The bad news is that Bandai Namco will not be able to meet the 'early 2017' window they had previously set for the fighting game title. Now, Tekken 7 will be launched later in the year.

"We were trying our best to get the game out at that time," project lead Katsuhiro Harada mentioned to GameSpot when referring to the 'early 2017' launch window at a press event held in Tokyo earlier this month.

Harada continued by saying "We saw some title, some our own, some from others, which didn't have a very good launch because of lack of content, or whatever it was, and it caused players to bash the product."

Understandably, the Tekken 7 team wanted to avoid this same route, and as a result, the console release has been pushed back to June 2, 2017.

Harada wanted to clear a few things up about the chosen date. "Although this is the first time we've actually announced a date, it wasn't always June. It came through a process and we made some hard decisions and that was the result. Early was probably March or April from your average perspective. We realize it's not 'early,' I'm so sorry!"

The movie studio behind hits like The Hunger Games, Power Rangers, and the Expendables has announced its recent investment in esports team, The Immortals.

It seems as if we're seeing investments from all over the place when it comes to eSports, and now Lionsgate has got in on the action. Interestingly, The Immortals has already seen financial support from other popular names including Michael Milken and Steve Kaplan.

Lionsgate didn't share too many details on what their investment would involve or what they would hope to receive from their partnership, but it's clear that they see the expectation in the eSports industry to follow the footsteps of other popular sports industries, such as the NBA and NFL.

This isn't the first time Lionsgate has gotten involved with video games. In fact, they have an entirely separate wing dedicated to interactive experiences and video games.

Lionsgate President of Interactive Ventures and Games mentioned, "We're delighted to be an early mover in a market that has the potential to transform the face of sports entertainment. Our involvement in eSports creates tremendous opportunities to develop new content and utilize our suite of distribution platforms for a coveted consumer demographic with compelling engagement metrics. Collaborating with an elite group of partners, the combination of the Lionsgate and Immortals brands will be formidable."

We wonder if Lionsgate has any plans for eSports movies in the near future - with their partnership with Immortals, they certainly have the chance to get a real insider's look at how the eSports world works.